


She Wore Wildflowers in Her Hair

by Lil_Redhead



Series: Shirbert Oneshot + Drabble Collection [8]
Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: F/M, a bit poetical, but you'll feel sweeter afterwards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 02:26:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20382148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lil_Redhead/pseuds/Lil_Redhead
Summary: Gilbert finds Anne singing out in the dear, sweet world.





	She Wore Wildflowers in Her Hair

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first fic(let) mashed with a continuation that was requested on tumblr. My first shirbert edit was posted alongside the first part, which makes this even more nostalgic for me. I hope you enjoy! ♥

He heard her first, a murmured song tip-toeing along the crisp breeze. Gilbert turned his head to it, chasing after the melody as it harmonized with the warmth of the sun through the trees. His smiled when he caught sight of her, her lips parted as she continued singing to herself.

Anne Shirley looked as if she had been born from droplets of sun, grown up from the ground with the wildflowers. Dozens of blossoms were woven into her red hair, interlaced with the soft braided strands. She waltzed in the afternoon light, the fragrance of the air was her partner, her own sweet voice brought the song.

As he drew nearer, Gilbert felt his grounded feet turn muddled and shaky. He inched forward, entranced by the way her loose hair spun around her shoulders. She laughed through her song, a delighted smile lifted her cheeks.

She was _breathtaking_.

Reaching down to pluck a few flowers from the patch beside him, Gilbert wondered where she learned to speak the language of spring and sing its song in such an ethereal tenor. Soon, Anne was jumping into the air, pulling herself up to sit on the branch of tree. From the high vantage point, she could see Gilbert, half-hidden and awestruck. She stopped singing, and gave him a peculiar look. Clutching the small bouquet of wildflowers in his hand, Gilbert took a few steps forward.

Neither spoke a word as he lifted his handful of flowers. Anne's brows knitted together, and she leaned forward to get a better look at the humble arrangement. When she was close enough, Gilbert plucked one of the white clovers from his hand and placed it behind her ear.

Anne kept her eyes locked on his as his hand lingered along her cheek. Then she pressed her lips together and gave a hopeful smile.

"Would you like to sit with me for a while, Gil?"

*

**“**Would you like to sit with me for a while, Gil?” 

For a moment, Anne wondered if she was in her right mind asking Gilbert Blythe to sit with her after he’d caught her singing an old, poetical ballad. Maybe she wasn’t. How could she be in her right mind when her heart seemed to be skipping on stepping stones in her chest just at the sight of him? She had to be crazy to suddenly want to see if his dark feathered hair smelled like midnight and if his skin was as sweet as stellar light. 

Anne’s throat staved her breath at her sudden longing. She _was _crazy, after all. 

“I wouldn’t want to interrupt you in your imaginings,” Gilbert replied. From her perch on the tree branch, Anne bit the inside of her cheek. He always saw her just as she was.

“Imagining is always much more exciting when there are people to share it with,” Anne said evenly, though she wondered if Gilbert truly didn’t want to be in her company. Something sweet in his hazel eyes gave her pause. “There’s room enough for two up here,” she continued. 

Gilbert reached up for her hand, both ignoring the fact that he could climb without help, and Anne gently pulled him to her side. Gilbert’s gaze lingered on her for a moment before tearing away to the sight before them. 

“The view is better than I expected it to be,” he admitted quietly. It had rained the night before, and water had pooled in the center of the field like a traveling pond. In it, the clouds wavered and passed in their never-ending array of shapes. 

“It’s the best view for times when you need to give your thoughts room to grow and just…_be,_” Anne replied. She glanced at him with embarrassed eyes. “Though, I don’t suppose you ever need to expel your thoughts into the windswept wild.” 

Gilbert shrugged, closing his eyes to the breeze that met them through the trees. He handed her the bouquet he’d plucked for her as casually as he could. 

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it. How’s it done?” Anne rubbed one of the silky flower petals between her fingers, then pulled the blooms up to her nose. Gilbert’s brows furrowed when he saw she was troubled. “Anne?” 

“You don’t have to humor me, you know,” she said as quiet as the treetops rustling together above them. 

“I’m not,” Gilbert insisted, turning to face her. “I’m not sitting here to laugh at you because I think you’re strange. I’m sitting here because you’re my friend and you have a worldview that I want to pursue.” 

Anne’s shoulders stiffened. Would he want to pursue _her_ too? Gilbert could see the gears in her mind churning, ruining the peaceful calm that she’d had before he came. With a tender touch, Gilbert took her hand and gave it a squeeze. 

“Please?” he asked again. Anne inhaled deep into her lungs, smelling fresh pollen when she did, then gave his hand a tiny shake.

“Alright, close your eyes.” 

Gilbert complied. Goosebumps erupted on his arms as his senses heightened to her, and he felt a prickling tingle around his lips as if they were waiting for something. Suddenly the eager sensations erupted from the nerves of his head as he felt her fingers combing through his hair and placing something there. When his hand reached up to touch her handiwork, he found the flowers he gifted her. 

“A person with blossoms in their hair is someone without inhibitions. It’s the first step,” she murmured, cognizant of the fact that she was still close to his face. Her breath tickled on his eyelashes and he shivered. 

“Can I open my eyes yet?” he asked, just as softly. She rearranged some things in his hair before he felt her presence retreat a few inches. 

“Alright, open your eyes.” 

“And then?”

“Unbind yourself.”

When he finally did open his eyes, he felt Anne’s gaze on him, anxious to see if there’d be a change in him. At first, everything was exactly the way he’d seen it moments ago, but Anne nudged him, as if encouraging him to journey deep inside himself. 

And he did. He imagined his residual grief chipping off of him like aged paint and disappearing into the tall grass below, which had begun to seem a bit greener. He threw the anger he harbored for those who shunned Bash and Mary to the sweeping wind, and the sky turned a sweeter blue. He loved his father. He loved Bash and Mary, and the future that they’d have in their quiet home. 

And, stars above, he _loved _Anne. 

He’d never realized it before that moment. Of course he knew he cared for her more than friends ought to. That much had always been a constancy, a never-ending fact. But to finally put that feeling to words…

Color exploded into the world, all the natural life at the tips of their feet were filled with saturation and vibrancy. All at once, _everything _felt possible. Nothing could stop him, even if the world set up forces against him. 

“Do you always feel like this?” he managed to speak finally. 

“Not always. That’s why I come here so often.” 

Gilbert turned his gaze away from the verdant sight and let it fall one something he treasured much more.

“Would you let me sit with you here again?” 

Anne’s lips parted in surprise, a detail that Gilbert noticed with a pinch in his chest, but seconds later she was grinning sunlight into their shade. 

“Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> If you're crying over the S3 trailer just as much as I am and need someone to scream with, come find me on tumblr ~ @royalcordelia ♥


End file.
